Dream of Stealth
by Amme Moto
Summary: So fluffy you could sleep on it. Revan and Exile must return to known space to find something on Telos. Carth finds a datapad from Revan. Will Revan be able to avoid Carth? Or will Carth make sure she doesn't stay in her Dream of Stealth?


**I had a really realistic dream about this last night. It was so good, I woke up crying. I doubt I could type it like that, but I'm going to give it a shot. **

**Who ever knew I was a subconscious genius? **

**If you'd seen the dream in Revan's POV like I saw, you would've hurt yourself for waking up. I hate it when that happens! So I'm hoping I can recreate it in this long one-shot. And I know she sounds a little paranoid of the world and a little frail, but it was a dream and at least _some _Revans have to have the frail mentality.**

**The story came out easily enough, but I couldn't come up with a title for the life of me. And since I've already used "Untitled" and "For Lack of Better Title" I figured I'd just use a really cheesy one.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Alana (Revan), Srehya (Soo-reh-yah) (Exile), and all the little kiddies in this story: Min, Shiji, Lamar, and Hannah. Everything else belongs to LucasArts, Obsidian, and BioWare.**

**Dream of Stealth**

A cold chill swished through the ballroom, causing many sighs of relief. Men, women, and children of all ages worked endlessly to decorate the huge area for the annual ball they were holding the next night. Streamers of light blue danced in the chandelier light, running across the room and hanging limply on the other side, dangling down onto the wall. The center chandelier set the dark, tin-colored walls into a bright, mysteriously happy orange color, as if the whole room were lit by candles. Ladders staged the walls, as men hung more and more streamers, balloons, and confetti.

Citadel Station was certainly very busy.

The ballroom itself was in a whole building, filled with many floors, and only the soldiers of the station would be permitted into this area. The rest of the building was just as decorated, and had the same of everything, yet it was for everyone else. Children would be ushered into a day-care part of the building on the top floor, filled with games, food, music, and many, many tables.

This was the Celebration of the Harvest.

At least, it would have been, if there was anything to harvest. After the Sith attacked Telos the first time, it could no longer stay on the surface, so people could no longer grow crops. The Telosians just celebrated the time of their old harvesting days, and remembered how things were very different. People dressed up, fixed their hair, bathed, and bought new shoes at this time of year. It was very important to every Telosian.

_Especially _to Admiral Carth Onasi.

Who, by the way, was running late. He ran through Citadel Station, trying to reach his destination. The building where the celebration would take place was on the other side of the station. Why, oh why did he have to stop and examine the shuttle that had just docked on their landing pad? Nothing had been in it. It was probably a lost ship placed on auto-pilot and showed up at their planet.

Nevertheless, it had put the Admiral on edge.

He slowed to a jog, feeling secure in his distance to the building.

"Excuse me, Admiral," Carth jogged past the confused blonde man. "Uh…." The man began jogging with Carth. "Sir, it's important."

"Alright, soldier. What's the matter?" Carth stopped jogging and watched as the blonde man straightened out his Jedi Knight Robes. Carth's face lit up as he grinned. "Mical! How are you?"

"Physically I am well, sir." Mical informed, huffing air. "But I have news from the Outer Rim."

Carth shook his head, and held up his right hand. He began walking away.

"For the next two weeks, the Outer Rim isn't my problem." He bowed his head. "You might want to talk to Admiral Dadonna."

"But, sir—" Mical walked after him. "I will do so if you ask it of me, but I thought it best if I came to you. This news, it involves Revan and the Exile."

Carth stopped moving, and his hands clenched together.

"It just became my problem." He turned around. "What's the news?"

"They're back in Republic space." Mical started out. "Atton and I found this datapad left behind from Revan. We were maybe two days behind them."

Carth took the datapad from Mical and turned it on. The last entry popped up.

"**It's been four days since our return to known space, and luckily no one has recognized Srehya or myself. Srehya and I are at ends to where we should begin our search. She thinks we should start on Nar Shadaa and make our way to Telos afterward, but I think the opposite. If we wait to go to Telos, we will come upon it in time for the start of the Celebration of the Harvest. What we seek shall be at a heavily guarded place during that time, and the building which they use will be swarmed with innocents for the kill, should the "Sith" attack.**

**Speaking of the "Sith", Srehya thinks we've lost them. They have not shown themselves to us in three weeks time. But I am not as relaxed as she is. There was no reason for the "Sith" to back off so readily. I would wonder if Nar Shadaa was just a trap.**

**I mean, the "Sith" are after the same things we are. They just don't know where they are. Srehya and I were very fortunate to find the datapads from those two scouts. We destroyed the datapads soon after reading them, and headed out to Republic space. We were hoping that the "Sith" would think we've given up on our search. **

**I think Srehya has made up her mind to go to Nar Shadaa first. Though I am against it, I will allow her to make this decision. Now that I think about it, going to the Celebration of the Harvest would be kind of fun. My face would not be an easy spot with everyone else around, and my stealth skills have far exceeded Juhani's as of late. And there's always the grand possibility of seeing Carth there.**

**Yet, that possibility horrifies me. I remember how much he tried to convince me of not going to the Unknown Regions five years before. What if he sees _me_? I would have a hard time getting away. No stealthman is so great that the belt doesn't ripple around them, even in the slightest.**

**But would that actually be so bad? Once we acquire the things we need, it won't be long before the "Sith" are destroyed. Would it matter if I found Carth and talked to him once we landed on Telos?**

**Srehya advises against it, and reluctantly, this time I concur. I must stay from Carth, just as she must Atton. But Atton is always following us, always trying to come with us. We managed to stave him off from the Unknown Regions, but he was on our tail just as soon as we re-entered the Outer Rim, with Mical to help him! Ha! Since when have those two gotten along?**

**I love Carth so much, I sometimes cry myself to sleep. I miss him so; sometimes I can see him sitting right next to me. To hear him actually speak to me, telling me he loves me back, actually seeing himstanding beside me, wanting to hold me would be unbearable. I would not be able to go back to the Unknown Regions. It tore me apart the first time, I would not last a second.**

**Oh well, I shall come to terms with that if it happens."**

Carth turned the datapad off and handed it back to Mical. His hands were shaking. Had his Alana returned without his knowing it?

Was the shuttle that appeared in their docks hers?

"Great job, Mical. You've done me proud." Carth patted the disciple's shoulder.

"Thank you, sir." Mical acknowledged. "I must return to Atton, now. He's going to try and trace this to other datapads." The man held up the datapad, and walked away.

**XXXXX**

"Srehya?" Alana called quietly through the empty cantina. The old Revan wheeled her lightsabers around her fingers. "You here?"

"I'm over here. Behind the counter." Srehya was making drinks for the two of them. Her Matukai robes were rolled up, as not to get any liquid on them, and her blonde hair was tied behind her head in a high ponytail. Alana sauntered over, allowing her free brown hair to sprawl over her shoulders. Her own Matukai robes sat heavily on her shoulders, softening as they reached the underlay added to them. One sleeve was pulled high to her upper arm, and her other sleeve stretched to its full length.

"I don't like this," Alana admitted. "It's too risky."

"You're just saying that because it was Carth who searched our shuttle yesterday." Srehya waved her friend's remark off. "It'll work out fine. All we need is that medallion and we're out of there!"

"That's what you said on Nar Shadaa." Alana argued. "And look what happened there."

"It wasn't my fault! You didn't turn on your stealth unit fast enough." Srehya battled, still mixing up drinks. Alana groaned, causing the Exile to add, "but now we know that Quarrens don't like fire, don't we?" Alana laughed.

"Yeah, and they don't like lekku grease." She reminisced, giggling about the thought.

"See? It'll be okay." She handed Alana a drink. "Now, drink this up. It'll dampen what little sound we make. Just try not to taste it, okay?"

Sighing, Alana grasped onto the cup and chugged the awful concoction made by her friend. It tasted like paint mixed in with dirt and melted metallic material. Yet the old Revan did not utter any noise. She chocked the horrid stuff down and immediately threw the mug away and covered her mouth.

"I told you not to taste it," Srehya said. She had already finished hers. She also threw the mug away. "Now, are we ready?"

"I don't know," Alana sat down at the bar. "I'm so petrified."

"He won't even know you're there, Alana." Srehya encouraged.

"He might find out. We goofed up last time and made ourselves known to Nar Shadaa, what would happen should the same thing happen?" Alana asked.

Srehya was silent. She laid a hand on Alana's shaking ones.

"Remember when we used our stealth against the Sith?" She asked. Alana nodded. "Every time we did, we were scared to death that they would see us and dismember us. Did we ever screw up? No. We took major precautions _not _to. We avoided rocky areas, grassy areas, and getting too close to people."

"Right…." Alana agreed.

"So, what did we do on Nar Shadaa? Were we scared at all? Of course not! We can handle anything on that farce of a planet. Did we take the precautions? No. Did we get caught? Yes." Srehya explained further. Alana nodded. "Are we scared this time? Yes. Are we going to take the precautions this time?" She waited for Alana to answer.

"Y-yes…." Alana nodded, smiling. "We will." She stood nervously. "Alright, I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Let's get going."

**XXXXX**

Alana and Srehya slipped past the security easily enough, joining a large group of people and turning on the stealth belts. Once inside the building, the two now-invisible people gawked. Everything was light blue, highlighted by shades of orange.

"Where is the medallion?" Asked Alana, whispering to her friend.

"It's on the top floor, that's as clear as I could get on it." Srehya answered. "But the stairs are all in different spots. To get to the top floor, we're going to have to go through all of the floors."

"How many floors are there?"

"Five." Srehya said, holding out her hand before realizing her friend couldn't see it.

"Alright, that's not too bad. Let's get started. Do you have the schematics to this place?" Alana asked. Srehya nodded.

"Stay as close as possible, okay?" Srehya ordered, moving around the crowd in front of them. Alana followed, keeping her eyes on the swaying air in front of her.

In the corner of the room was the first staircase. People used it every now and then to get to the next level, or to get off of the above level. Alana and Srehya had no trouble getting onto the second floor. Nor did the trouble start on the second floor to the third.

It was the third staircase which compromised their mission.

**XXXXX**

Carth sat in a red velvet chair, lightly sipping at his juma juice as his eyes paced the room. That datapad still ran through his mind. Alana could very well be in the same room as he was and he would never know it.

The very thought was daunting. How could Alana even be on the same _planet_ as Carth and not make an attempt to see him?

_Possibly to save the galaxy,_ his mind answered.

Annoyed with himself, Carth set down his drink of juma and headed for the stairs. Maybe people on the fourth level—the level leading either to the ballroom (which occupied both Mical and Atton)—or the fifth level which held the children would be more talkative to him than on this level.

As he made his way up the stairs a woman—obviously a little tipsy—stopped in front of him.

"Hey, handsome." She cooed at him, winking an eye which had too much makeup on it. Carth couldn't tell if her eye was blue and the shadow was green or vise-versa. She laid a red-gloved hand on his chest. "Having fun?"

Carth raised his eyebrows, unsure how to answer the woman. He didn't like talking to drunken ladies, and this one seemed to want more than Carth was willing to give.

"Yes, thank you," He answered nervously. The woman laughed, throwing her head back and showing her pearly white teeth as the snicker grew louder.

"Want to have some more?" She asked. Carth cringed.

"Well, not particularly." He said, taking her hand off of his torso.

"Oh, come on. There's nothing else to do here." The woman insisted. "And you look like the adventurous type."

_Well, duh. _Carth thought. _I don't have my Admiral suit on for nothing, lady._

"Really, I'm alright. In fact, I was just heading upstairs to talk with my friends." Carth lied. "I'm sure they're wondering where I am."

The woman seemed to get angry.

"No one says no to me." She told. "No one!"

"Is there somewhere you'd like to go, ma'am?" He asked her. She shrugged, her mood completely changed. Carth marveled at the sudden change.

"I'm not mad. I'll just wander around some more." The woman pushed past him and left.

Carth sighed. At least he didn't have to worry about that drunken lady anymore. He'd seen Alana tipsy once, and it wasn't a very pretty sight.

Carth was about to move on when something caught his eye. He caught his foot in midair, and stared a few steps ahead of him.

The air in front of him was moving back and forth.

**XXXXX**

"Uh-oh…." Srehya muttered. She stared at the third flight of stairs.

"Uh-oh? I don't like uh-oh. Don't say 'uh-oh'!" Alana ordered. "What happened?"

"Carth's there." Was all she said. Alana moved beside her friend and saw Carth trying to talk his way away from a drunken woman.

Alana fought to control herself. Carth looked no different since she saw him the day before. She wanted to tear off her stealth belt and just hug him. Yet, she took a deep breath and silenced the thought.

"Let's… just move past him." She said. "Once we get to the fourth floor, every woman for herself. We'll split up and contact each other when we find the medallion." Srehya nodded, starting up the stairs.

"Oh, come on. There's nothing else to do here." Alana heard the woman whine at Carth. The ex-Sith Lord instantly knew what the tipsy woman wanted. Alana's anger raged for a moment before she heard Carth's reply.

"Really, I'm alright. In fact, I was just heading upstairs to talk with my friends." Alana seriously doubted it. "I'm sure they're wondering where I am."

The woman appeared to get angry.

"No one says no to me…." She hissed. Alana bristled. She was right behind the woman now. "No one!"

Quickly, Alana's hand flew through the air and she whispered, "You're not mad. You'll just wander around some more."

The woman repeated the words, showing that the Force Persuade had done its job. Carth's gaze wandered around quickly. Alana couldn't stay anymore. Carth would find her. She kept pressing up the stairs. She slowly moved across the stairs, careful not to let herself be known. Thanks to that awful drink she chocked down hours before, her feet seemed lightweight and made no sounds as she slinked up the stairs. She was almost to the top of the stairs….

**XXXXX**

Someone was using a stealth unit in front of Carth. He couldn't tell who it was, though. He could just see the outline, now that he knew it was there. And by the shape of it, it was a female. That meant that it was probably either Srehya or Alana. His heart leapt out from his chest. He had to know who it was. It could be Alana.

He reached out his hand and grabbed the person's wrist, at the same time calling out.

"Alana?"

**XXXXX**

Alana knew it was over when the firm hand clamped around her wrist. Her stealth unit disconnected and she was no longer hidden from the world. She felt a lump form in her throat as Carth's voice called her name.

"Alana?" He asked, tugging on her wrist slightly. "Is that you?"

_What am I going to do?_

Srehya came back as fast as she could without turning off her stealth. She stared in shock at Alana, who just stood with her head hung and her right arm behind her, attached to Carth.

"I'll get you help—" She started to whisper. Alana cut her off.

"No!" Hissed Alana quickly. "Don't worry about me, get that medallion. I'll figure something out."

Srehya was gone.

"Alana, what's going on?" Carth's voice was so soft, so delicate, so confused, that tears streamed down Alana's eyes.

"Carth, please let me go." Her voice kept breaking, her tone barely above a whisper. She tugged back on her arm a little. She wouldn't face him. She kept her head hung and examined the floor. She'd been two steps away from the fourth floor.

"What's going on, Alana? Why are you here? Better yet, why didn't you tell me you came back?" Carth stepped up to her, trying to wrap his arms around her. She pulled away, yanking her hand loose from his grasp. Alana burst into a run, sprinting away from Carth.

"Wait—" Carth was running after her. Alana chocked back the urge to give up and switched on Burst of Speed. She shot between civilians as she ran up the fourth flight of stairs and headed to the fifth level.

_I've got a little time before Carth comes._

"Srehya," Alana called into her comm. link, whispering so she wouldn't alarm people around her. "I've got to hide."

"**Got it." **Came the reply.

Footsteps clanged up the stairs.

"Alana!" Carth called. Alana nearly passed out. He would think she hates him if she ran. But she could not face him. She wouldn't be able to return to the Unknown Regions. He wouldn't let her, and she wouldn't have the strength to fight him.

Alana opened the door nearest her and went inside. Four children's eyes watched her.

"Who are you?" They asked.

"Shhhh!" Alana shushed them, holding a finger to her lips. She dove under a table, leaned her back up against the wall, and turned on her stealth unit again.

"Where'd she go?" Asked the smallest, a girl with black pigtails at the top of her head asked. Her red jumper jolted as she stood up, shock on her face as the woman disappeared. Her green eyes wandered around the room. "She's gone!"

"She's not gone, Min." Said the boy next to her, three heads taller and a blue cap covering his hair. He seemed strange to Alana, since he was wearing the normal Telosian tunic. "She used a stealth belt. You see there? She's under the table." The boy placed one hand on Min's shoulder and another pointed straight at Alana.

"Oh! I see now. Thank you, brother Lamar." Min hugged her brother. Another of the four sighed, this one a girl with long, blonde hair, blue, deep eyes, and seemed to be hard in thought.

"Yes, but why?" She asked out loud.

"Maybe she didn't want to be found, Hannah." Lamar suggested. Hannah shrugged.

"Whatever it is," The last boy started. He rubbed his pale chin and squinted his brown eyes. The short, brown hair he had swayed long enough to be in front of his eyes, annoying him. "Another should be coming in soon."

"How do you get that, Shiji?" Min asked.

"She wouldn't be hiding to not be found if someone wasn't looking for her, Min." Shiji answered, shrugging.

Alana sighed in relief. Shiji perked his head up and eyed her.

"That's what you want, isn't it? You don't want to be found." He pressed. Alana wanted to nod, but he wouldn't have seen it, and she was not so foolish as to say "Yes" when Carth could be right behind the door.

The door opened.

Alana froze. Her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, which clung onto her chest for dear life. Carth walked in and smiled at the children.

"Hello, children." He nodded. "Have you seen a girl come through here?"

"You mean like—" Min was interrupted by her brother, Lamar.

"No, we haven't. It's just been us four in here for a while now." Min scowled at her brother. Alana sighed into her knees.

"Uh-huh." Carth frowned. Something wasn't right. "You're positive a woman hasn't come into this room? About this tall, brown hair, dark brown eyes, Matukai Jedi robes?"

"Is _that_ what she—" Min was again, interrupted. This time Hannah stepped in.

"We're sorry, but we haven't seen anyone like that." She stated. Carth now folded his arms together.

Alana began shaking. Why had she picked a child-care room to hide in? She could have picked anything else. Thankfully, most of the children were smart enough to know that Alana didn't want to be found. However, Min, who looked around the age of four, didn't quite get the message. Now Carth knew she was in the room. She would have to get out.

"Well, thank you anyway." Carth nodded. "Say, you guys look pretty bored."

"Yes, well, we've eaten our fill and we've already completed all the games over there." Lamar pointed to the completed puzzles, filled workbooks, and colored books of animals.

"How about I talk with you a bit?" Carth said. "I'm sure an old war hero could come up with a few topics."

"Sure, we'll listen to you." Hannah agreed. The four sat on the floor around Carth.

Alana couldn't escape with the way Carth was facing; he could spot at the first move she'd make. She'd have to listen to him too and wait him out. She'd just have to hope that Srehya wouldn't try to contact her on the comm. link.

"I'm not going to talk to you about war, battles, or fights, just so you know. This planet has heard enough of that kind of thing." Carth started off. "I'm going to talk to you about a girl in my life. Her name was Alana."

Alana felt her face turn red.

"Alana was the best woman I've ever known. We'd had countless adventures together, and she'd saved my life twice as many times as I'd saved hers." Carth went on.

"Is this the girl you're looking for?" Lamar glanced back at Alana's hiding spot for a moment.

"Yes, as a matter of fact." Carth nodded.

"Want to tell us why she's running from you?" Min asked, standing. Lamar pulled her back down.

"I don't know, myself. You see, a friend of mine found this datapad she left behind accidentally somewhere a few days ago. It said that she'd returned to Republic space and she'd be stopping by Telos sooner or later to find some sort of item." Carth pulled out the datapad he'd borrowed from Mical.

Alana swore inwardly. _So __**that's **__where that stupid thing went!_ She'd lost it when the Quarrens on Nar Shadaa started firing at her.

"At the end, she started talking about coming back during this celebration and seeing me. But then she'd written that I would talk her into not going back to where she'd been." Carth explained.

"Is this place dangerous?" Hannah asked.

"It's very dangerous. It's the Unknown Regions. That's past even the Outer Rims." Carth answered.

"Why would she want to go there?" Shiji asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She didn't _want _to, she _had _to. She had to stop something from coming into known space. But she wouldn't take me with her the first time, and I tried to talk her out of it."

"And how long ago was this?" Min asked.

"It was five years ago." Carth sighed inwardly. "If I hadn't seen this datapad and known how she felt about this whole ordeal, I would be trying to convince her not to go back."

"But you _have _read the datapad, so…." Lamar wanted Carth to finish the sentence.

"So I just want to find her." Carth stressed. "And I did, back there a ways. She had on a stealth belt, but I somehow found her." The disappointment settled in his voice.

"What happened?" Min asked.

"Nothing, at first." Carth answered. "I asked her a few questions, and then she ran off. I followed her to this level, and I heard this door shut recently."

"That's why you thought she was in here." Shiji chuckled nervously.

"Yes," Carth admitted.

"So why is she hiding?" Hannah asked.

"I already told you I don't know." Carth restated.

"Ah, you said that, but you didn't mean it." Min smiled. "We're smarter than you think."

Carth grinned idiotically at the four kids.

"Alright, I think she's hiding because she thinks if I find her I'll make her stay in Republic space instead of doing what she must do and returning to the Unknown Regions." Carth told. Alana paled underneath the table.

"Would you?" Lamar asked.

"If I hadn't seen that datapad I would have. But, I just want to see her again." Carth said loudly.

Alana chocked. He _wouldn't _care? That was a relief. Could she trust it? Was he just saying that to get her to come out?

Her hand was fighting her mind to click off the stealth unit. She didn't know whether she wanted to stay hidden or to show herself. Did it matter? Of course it did. He would think she was either not in the room or hating him.

"Well, I'm satisfied," Min smiled and nodded.

"So, are you absolutely _sure _you guys haven't seen Alana anywhere?" Carth asked.

Silence.

The four glanced at each other, not daring to look back at Alana. All were unsure of what to do. Should they try to mend the relationship and point out Alana? Or should they keep quiet and see what happens?

Alana made up her mind before they did. She flicked off her stealth belt, coming into view again. She was still underneath the table, frozen from anxiety and fear, but at least visible.

Carth noticed.

"There you are…." He murmured, stepping over to the table and kneeling to see Alana eye-to-eye. He was smiling. "I was worried about you." He held his hand out to her. She pulled her trembling hand away from her legs and grasped onto Carth's firm hand. He gently pulled her out from under the table and stood her up again.

"I—I'm, I mean, I just—" Alana couldn't find the right way to say what she was thinking. Carth shushed her, placing a finger up to her lips.

"Hey, it's okay." He whispered. He touched his forehead to hers. She laughed feebly.

"Really?" She asked, grinning. She pressed her forehead onto his, as well. Carth's lips brushed hers.

"Of course!" He murmured. Alana laughed, returning his small kiss with a bigger one.

The four children turned their backs, meanwhile, scowling with disgust.

"Eew!" They squealed. "Adults have the nastiest habits!"

**XXXXX**

**Then I woke up. I know it didn't go as well as I'd planned it, and as I saw it, but it's still a really good try at it. I woke up in a bad mood because I woke up, but in a good mood because I had an awesome dream.**

**I'm working on a Just Like Me chapter, as well as a Choices No One Should Make chapter! So don't worry about those things, faithful readers!**

**Those of you who've read Untitled, I might make a whole fic around Tasha and Tacha Ordo. It's still in the making.**

**Please review!**


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